Connacht trio in Ireland squad

26 October 2017

Connacht trio in Ireland squad
Kieran Marmion, Ultan Dillane and the uncapped Bundee Aki have been named in the 38-player Ireland squad for the 2017 Guinness Series which sees Ireland take on South Africa, Fiji and Argentina in the Aviva Stadium in November.

The South Africa fixture on Saturday 11th November is a sell-out but there are limited tickets available for Fiji (45,000+ sold) and Argentina (50,000+ sold).

Ireland face the Springboks for the first time since the 2016 Summer Tour where Ireland recorded a first ever victory on South African soil at Newlands but ultimately lost the series decider.  Earlier this month the Boks came within a point of beating the All Blacks in their final game of this year's Rugby Championship having twice drawn with Australia and recorded victories home and away against the Pumas.

The Bok squad will be led by the 63 time capped lock Eben Etzebeth with their full European tour travelling party set to be named after the Currie Cup final.

Fiji come to Ireland as the reigning Pacific Nations Cup champions and have secured qualification for Rugby World Cup 2019 by virtue of being the top team in the region over the course of the past two seasons.

There are a number of familiar names within their squad such as Newcastle Falcons' Vereniki Goneva, Racing 92's Leone Nakarawa and Toulon's Josua Tuisova while Montpellier's Nemani Nadolo could also feature for the Flying Fijians.

The final game of the Guinness Series sees Ireland square off against Argentina.  The two sides have not met since the RWC quarter-final in Cardiff in October 2015.   The Pumas have recently added Mario Ledesma to their backroom team.  The hooker who was capped 84 times for his country joins from the Wallabies backroom team and played under Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt at Clermont Auvergne.

Ireland Head Coach, Joe Schmidt, commented, "In what we anticipate will be an incredibly physical Guinness Series plenty will be demanded of the squad.

"We have retained a core of experienced players but have also included a number of promising players that we hope will acquit themselves well.”

 

2017 Guinness Series Squad

 

FORWARDS (21)

Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) C  104 caps

Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 4 caps

Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht)  10 caps

Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 16 caps

Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 70 caps

Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 32 caps

Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 1 cap

Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster)  20 caps

Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster) 4 caps

Jack McGrath (St Mary's College/Leinster) 41 caps

Sean O'Brien (UCD/Leinster) 49 caps

Tommy O'Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster) 12 caps

Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 40 caps

Andrew Porter  (UCD/Leinster) 2 caps

Rhys Ruddock (St Mary's College/Leinster) 16 caps

James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 2 caps

John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 9 caps

CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 15 caps

Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 50 caps

James Tracy (UCD/Leinster) 4 caps

Kieran Treadwell  (Ballymena/Ulster) 2 caps

 

BACKS (17)

Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) uncapped

Adam Byrne (UCD/Leinster) uncapped

Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Leinster)  4 caps

Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) 3 caps

Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 62 caps

Chris Farrell (Young Munster/Munster) uncapped

Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 29 caps

Dave Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster)16 caps

Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 76 caps

Ian Keatley (Young Munster/Munster) 5 caps

Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht) 16 caps

Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/UIster) 1 cap

Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster) 4 caps

Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)  57 caps

Johnny Sexton (St Mary's College/Leinster)  66 caps

Jacob Stockdale (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 2 caps

Darren Sweetnam (Cork Constitution/Munster) uncapped

 

2017 Guinness Series Fixtures

 

IRELAND v South Africa
Saturday 11th November, KO 17.30
Aviva Stadium, Dublin

 

IRELAND v Fiji
Saturday 18th November, KO 17.30
Aviva Stadium, Dublin

 

IRELAND v Argentina
Saturday 25th November, KO 17.30
Aviva Stadium, Dublin